Archive for the ‘Audio’ Category

Your musical heroes are not really heroes, they are arrows pointing in the direction of your own potential. Do not allow the thought that “some have it and some don’t”, it’s simply not true. The truth is that some people work for it (unfortunately very few) tirelessly & consistently until they get it. Some of the best artists actually took longer to get there than you would expect.

I recently joined one of those synthwave producers type pages on Facebook, figuring I’d pick up the occasional production tip, tutorials etc. and early on found this great article by musicsoftwaretraining.com. Entitled 10 Things they don’t tell Music Producers …til it’s too late, it offers some great pointers/advice that I honestly feel can be applied to all sorts of creative endeavors and not just music/producing.

Pointers include Your first attempts at making music won’t be great, Most of the tools you think you need, you don’t and Musicianship is optional. Check it out here and a second article entitled Why Quantity is more important than Quality makes for some interesting food for thought. Check it out here.

‘Scuse Grampa while he’s having a ten-minute nerdgasm, kids, but I found this YouTube video via my pal Troy Church at The Bigfoot Diaries‘ official page on Facebook and this is just audiophile heaven! I was oblivious to Quality Record Pressings, but according to information gathered they’re at the top of their game when it comes to mastering and pressing vinyl records.

This is just a total nerd dream as owner and all employees truly mastered their art – and yes, honing a craft is an art – and I can watch this clip over and over. Passion is so rare these days and watching a highly skilled worker perform is just as fascinating and inspiring as say the The Scientist at work in the studio clips I posted last year. So give it a spin and make sure you check out their official website here.

Yeah, well, “picture of the year” might be a bit overdoing it, but this meme is not only funny but oh so true. As I’ve dabbled with video editing and gotten a taste of what that software can do I gotta say you movie folks sure have a lot of advantages, as you actually can “fix it in post” as the saying goes. It’s not the same when it comes to sound. Oh, I am longing for some sort of VST that effectively brightens up a muddy sound without it turning into a trebly mess that’ll shatter your teeth fillings, or maybe evens out a badly miked drum kit when the tape masters are no longer available. Or maybe a highly effective noise remover that doesn’t end up turning the sound into something robotic – which most do if you crank it up and give it a listen. But what you’ve got coming in from the mike is what you get, and until someone out there start adding some of the said functions to audio editing software then the old musician saying “you can’t polish a turd” stays true.

Anyway, I got this from TapeOp Magazine‘s official page on Facebook, and if you’re unfamiliar with the magazine/website – really? – you sure have a lot of great info, tips & tricks etc. waiting for you. Unlike some other magazines I’ve seen/read over the years, this one is run by people who are true audiophiles and instead of just promoting the latest digital toy released on the market they fill every page with interviews and articles covering all sorts of creative recording techniques from the initial babysteps with cylinder recordings more than a hundred years ago to modern sessions using digital formats. I highly recommend anyone who’s remotely interested in audio/recording to check them out. You’ll find the official website here.

Well, I am a true believer in trial-and-error, as theory only can go so far and nothing makes you get your gear together like a good mess up. And boy did I go to school today, ha ha ha. I’m not going near that damn thing ever again for the rest of my life, and in the rare occassion I would I’d approach it with extreme caution. Damn! If any of you audio geeks wanna know I can tell you that an FM Oscillator set on sinus waveform will turn a distorted bass into a “building cleanser.”

Anyway, after three great days of just good food and tons of sleep I woke up early feeling energized and rejuvenated and pretty much spent all day adding the finishing touches to the remix EP I’ve been working on for the last couple of weeks. I sent out some rough MP3s a couple of days ago, and now it’s just a matter of doing the final bit of tweaking and then I’m done. While on the subject:

Audiophiles rejoice! Legendary producer/engineer Eddie Kramer shares anecdotes as well as advice in this great lecture from back in the 90s. Not only the chief engineer of Electric LadyStudios Eddie’s also engineered and produced tons of now classic albums. Led Zeppelin‘s Led Zeppelin II, Jimi Hendrix‘ Cry of Love,Kiss‘ Alive! – he’s worked on all of them.

After an initial speech Eddie opens up the mike for a Q&A and here’s where it gets good. There’s tons of nice little information, tips and tricks and fun drawing from his 30+ years of experience, all told in a laid back, intimate style. Eighteen parts in total – check them out!

So, yeah, this is gonna be yet another one of those posts aimed towards the fellow audiophile, so all you normal people can move along while us nerds drool and whatnot.

Recently I find myself getting almost a Hunter S. Thompson-esque air when it comes to the Molot tube compressor I wrote about earlier. Using this insane piece of technology on everything from drums to the final stages of mastering I’ve kinda adopted his body language and spout off “oh you magnificent beast!” in the same way good ol’ Doc used to talk about Cadillacs and .357 Magnums. I love this gadget. For all its unruliness and unmatched depth of ugly this takes whatever comes through it and sends it straight off to that “whoa! territory” I’ve mentioned in an earlier post. This is a wild buck impossible to tame. Pure masculinity. No holds barred. You just gotta buckle up, buy the ticket, and take the ride with a big grin on your face, ha ha ha.

So with that hunk of Russian primeval just ready to pretty much hurt anything I might point my finger at, plus me reading the great interview Sound on Sound did with French madman Phillippe Zdar about mixing The Beastie Boys‘ great (and final?) album Hot Sauce Committee Part Two, I was curious to try out his mixing technique – especially submixing sounds by splitting an audio source into threes (lows, mids and highs) and treat them with a different chain of EQs and compressors. Even though I’ve never been much of a rap/hiphop fan, the Beasties are totally different because they (1) have a unique approach to the form that keeps it interesting and (2) have a genuine punk/hardcore background giving them a street cred that no PR staff in the world can fake, resulting in a musical style that’s energetic and raw. Listening to that album I was blown away by its creativity, the variety of the material and just how dense the damn thing sounded. So of course I had to look it up, read up on the techniques used achieving it and then find an excuse to take what I’ve learned and just try it out.

As soon as I came home Friday afternoon I started working on a dub song using a classic drum loop and pretty much spent all evening working on it. The initial try had me ripping off my earphones again of course ’cause that damn Molot is kinda like dealing with a 900 lb gorilla trying to quit smoking, but once I had the levels right and started getting into it – using mainly tube compressors, expanders, a classic spring reverb and the occasional dub delay – I knew I was onto something. Cranking up the volume the track sounded hot, dense and just jumped at you. I went to bed around 1:00 am and oddly enough had my first nightmare in years. I summed it up earlier Saturday morning on Facebook, so ‘scuse me while I cut and paste:

Wow. I woke up way too early today on account of having my first nightmare in years. Ironically (’cause I don’t believe in the Mayan ‘The World ends in December 2012!’) I found myself in a quiet post-apocalyptic world, sneaking through the streets (’cause if you start hollering out who you are and where you are before you’ve gotten your bearings or a firm grasp of the situation you’re a damn idiot) trying to figure out what the hell had happened.

After breaking into a TV-station I saw videos of chaos, politicians desperately trying to maintain the illusion they were in control (while their bodyguards/police/military were being torn apart by brainless maniacs in the background), tv-presenters crying as they reported the latest updates and then just silence. No specifics mentioned but after all the initial chaos it all just went out like a lightbulb.

And I am aware that it’s anticlimactic but that was the horror of the dream. The silence. Cities completely devoid of life. The horror and unbearable sadness of waking up one day with everything just gone and no one to explain how or why.

Yeah, I agree. I definitely gotta cut back on the weekly amount of The Walking Dead episodes. Anyway, drawing inspiration from that I dug through my old industrial samples and worked out something that would’ve fit the horrific scenario. The title Armageddon Dub was pretty much a given. It turned out fine but way too dark and industrial-sounding for what I had in mind for the Call Me Greenhorn full length. I’m on the fence about it right now, but I’ll make up my mind about including it or not some time soon. It’s available via SoundCloud, so check it out and please share!

Well, I’ve noticed that I’ve got some fellow audiophiles among my visitors so I thought I’d share the latest find when it comes to free VSTs available: Meet Russian behemoth Molot! And dear God is this a fierce beast! You know the climactic scene in Evil Dead II when the demonic dimension rips through the fabrics of reality and the Rotten Apple Head comes through the door to swallow Ash? Well, this piece of tube-powered compression emulator kinda does that with your sounds.

I initially tried it out on the unmastered track of Call Me Greenhorn‘s album teaser – and to be honest I don’t have a title for that one yet – and I had to rip my earphones off ’cause it damn near took my head clean off. And I live for that kinda sound. There an almost endless amount of variety offered plus some nice presets if you’re new to it or just wanna save some time (personally I found the “room” setting kinda nice ’cause it had a slight SSL feel).

Based on the same technology that gave the World that other beast (the Sovtek-powered Big Muff distortion pedal), it’s a primitive, no-bullshit chunk of gnarly oomph! that does not aim for sophistication. Like author Vladislav Goncharov himself says: “[If you’re…] Looking for transparent compressor? This not your choice. This compressor adds a lot of coloring to sound.” And he’s not kidding. This’ll color everything. It’s loud and noisy and ugly and just everything that makes rough and raw music great.

You can download it here, and he’s offering some limiters and clippers as well that I’m gonna check out as soon as my damn ears stop ringing…

Well, considering the subject of my previous post I’d say the irony sure isn’t lost on me. But lemme back it up a little bit first. I should probably start this off by saying that I am in no way sponsored by the manufacturers of MAGIX Audio Cleaning Lab, nor am I affiliated with them. I know there are blogs out there that pretty much are run by people that earn their living by writing thinly disguised fluff pieces for brands and whatnot, but I am not one of those. I’m just a guy writing about whatever pops into my head.

Anyway, that said I downloaded the trial version of the program and this little baby is nothing short of amazing. I imported a couple of songs from the upcoming The Haunted House of Horror’s Horrific Halloween Twist-a-Rama mix into it without really expecting anything and ended up being pretty blown away. Now, I’d already spent the last week and a half removing pops and noises on these tracks the Old School way and decided on the spot to rip it all up and redo the whole damn thing from scratch just based on the results. And I had spent hours on the first version. But this program really delivers when it comes to noise removal and it is easy and user-friendly to boot. Honestly I’m finding it hard to believe a program that holds such a high level is made available at such a low price. Great for saving (and re-mastering!) vinyl transfers, low-quality MP3s or old cassette tapes – check it out!

Now, you just have to take my word for that until next week. You see, after finishing up all 30 tracks I was so enthustiastic by the results I decided to share it with you in audio form. So I picked an old, damaged MP3 off an old punk rock 7″ that snapped and crackled to high heaven, cleaned it up using said program and uploaded two MP3s (pre- and post) on SoundCloud so anyone remotely interested could listen and judge the results by themselves. But apparently their “automatic content protection system” detected that the two tracks might include copyrighted material (well DUH!), so now that account has been “temporarily paused.” Very strange considering I used Example (without clean-up) and Example (after clean-up) as titles.

Oh well, I’ve created a new account on MixCloud, and you can listen to the Halloween mix instead as all tracks are taken from vinyl. I’ll post it this coming week.

Well, I sure wish I stumbled across this before I started my Halloween mix project The Haunted House of Horror’s Horrific Halloween Twist-a-Rama!: MAGIX Audio Cleaning Lab MX! I was familiar with their MAGIX Movie Maker software (if you’re looking for a cheap and user-friendly video editor I doubt you can find better than this at such a low price), but their audio clean-up tools were news to me. Too bad I already did all my work Old School, but hey, there’s nothing like wasting a good couple of hours for nothing right, ha ha ha.

Anyway, this tutorial shows you how to use the program not only for vinyl but tapes and MP3s as well and it looks just great. Now, I haven’t tried it myself so I can’t say for sure how good it is to work with, but there’s free trial versions here so check those out and lemme know what you think.